Murder He Rewrote
"Hey, so the Bridgehamptons Polo Semifinals are today." Castle says into Kate's cheek, nudging her to settle more comfortably against the balustrade. The sunlight hums just underneath the surface of her skin, makes her loose and fluid and so gorgeous in the way she arches against him.
"Oh?"
Shifting around to her mouth, Castle presses a soft kiss to her lips and smiles against her. His hands settle in the curves of her waist and he slips his thumbs down to smooth over the bare skin just below the hem of her shirt. "Uh huh. It's open to public viewing, so we could go watch if you wanted?"
"Really, Castle? You want to spend our time watching polo? I figured you'd be pretty desperate to take me back to the house." She raises an eyebrow, the tip of her tongue just poking between her teeth and he comes in to touch his own to it, laughs at her grunt of protest.
"I like to do things with you that don't involve sex, too. I want to share everything with you, not just my bed."
He shrugs, tries to play it off as unimportant even though he knows what it means. Of course she knows, or at least he has to hope she does, but Kate isn't a conquest. Kate is. . .everything. Castle dusts his thumb over her cheekbone and drops down to take her hand, shifting away from the railing. And he doesn't have to tug at her, doesn't even have to say anything, she just comes right up alongside him.
"I know." She says, hair limned with gold as he glances down at her. "Me too. But polo, really?"
"Can we at least go see the club? It's pretty cool." He grins, delighted to see the stretch of her own mouth in echo. Kate's fingers wriggle in his grip and she nods to one of the signs tacked up to the lamppost, stopping to read it properly. It offers directions to the tournament and she turns back over her shoulder to glance at him.
"You know where we're going?"
"Yeah. Went with Alexis a couple years back."
Kate takes a moment to consider that and then she nods, stretches up onto tiptoe to set her mouth to his jaw. Her touch sends flares of warmth scattering through him and he sets his palm at the curve of her spine to keep her close.
"Okay. Let's go."
It's crazy busy, more so than Kate ever would have anticipated. A stream of cars that have been rerouted from town and the cops here are on point, calm and in control. Kate's impressed.
But then, she supposes this is more what they're used to than the inner-city grit she has to contend with every day. She can't imagine they deal with too many murders out here.
"Excuse me," Castle's saying to one of the cops, "are we okay just to have a quick look inside? I just wanted to show my, uh- my partner what the clubhouse is like."
He shoots a glance back at Kate and she steps up to his side, curls a lazy arm around his waist. There's a frisson of pleasure that hums all through her at being able to touch him like this outside of the amniotic safety of their apartments. To be allowed to love him in front of other people.
"Mr Castle, I'd love to let you and your. . .companion look around. Just tell them that Chief Brady sent you."
Whoa, hey, who does this guy think she is? Does he think she's- "I'm not a prostitute."
"Oh, I'm sure." The chief says, sending her a condescending look and then turning his back on her entirely to face Castle again.
Kate sends him an icy look over the chief's shoulder and he swallows hard, shakes his head. "She's not. This is my girlfriend."
"I'll have to add her to the register, so name please."
"Katherine Beckett, but can we keep that off the record?" Kate says, has to stifle her laughter at the way Castle flounders behind Chief Brady.
The chief smirks, glances down at his clipboard. "Right. Richard Castle and. . .guest."
Kate opens her mouth to argue with him, defend her honour or something equally futile, and then Castle's curling his fingers inside of her elbow and dragging her away. "Thanks Chief. I owe you one."
Inside of the gate, Kate brings them to a stumbling stop and tugs him out of the way of the foot traffic, hands falling to her hips almost by accident. "Castle, he thinks I'm a prostitute."
"So what?" Rick does his best to placate her, running soothing palms over her biceps and damn him, it works. "I know how amazing you are. What does it matter what he thinks?"
Kate lifts an eyebrow, pins him with her gaze. "It doesn't bother you that he thinks you use escorts?"
"As long as he keeps it to himself, I don't care what he thinks. I'm used to people having unfounded opinions about me, occupational hazard."
And that sort of breaks her heart a little. Especially since she doesn't often tell him how she feels, lets most of their relationship float on a surface of teasing and banter. "Castle, you know I think you're pretty great, right?"
He laughs at that, shakes his head. "Here I am, hopelessly in love with you, and all I get in return is pretty great."
It takes a moment for his words to catch up to him and then they do, hitting him like a freight train and he gapes at her, jaw slack with shock. "Kate, I don't- I didn't mean- I'm not trying to-"
"Rick." She curls her arms at his neck and presses the length of her body to his, kisses him just to make him shut the hell up. "It's okay. You're allowed to say it. It's not a secret."
"Okay." His smile consumes his whole face, draws lines of mirth around his eyes and mouth and dips down to his shoulders. They lift in delight and he kisses her again, cradles the curve of her skull in his palm. "Okay. I hope you realise that you've opened the floodgates now."
"Good. I like hearing it." Kate murmurs, dropping back onto flat feet and reaching for his hand again. "And Castle? I love you too."
She has to bite back a laugh when he becomes a dead weight on the end of her arm, frozen in place as she tries to move off. The look on his face? Completely worth the wait.
"I'm going to go shower." Kate calls through from the bedroom and he staggers through the door in time to see her shedding her clothes and disappearing into the bathroom.
Mm, the wine can wait. This right here is far more appealing. He peels off his own clothes and leaves them pooled with hers on the bedroom floor, following her right through into the shower stall.
There's no measure of surprise at his sudden warmth behind her, Kate simply turns in to his embrace and flicks the dial to start the water. It cascades down over them both, drops coalescing at the fringe of her lashes and sliding down between her breasts.
"Have I mentioned how devastatingly attractive you are?"
"Once or twice." She smirks, clutching at his ears to draw him down to her. She tastes amazing, his world collapsed down to fit between the corners of her mouth and so much bare skin to press his hands to. Yesterday was so tender, so sweet, about proving to her that it doesn't matter who's been here before. She's here now.
Now, the hot bite of need simmers beneath his skin and he pushes her up against the tile, turning her around and nudging his knee between her thighs. Kate groans and reaches back for his hand, curling her fingers against his palm.
He needs her. Right now.
After their shower (she still doesn't entirely trust her legs to hold her up) Kate dries her hair into soft curls and slips into the sundress she brought. The cut of it doesn't allow for a bra and Castle comes back from shaving to dust his mouth to her bare shoulder, clutch at her hips.
"You look amazing."
Kate lifts an eyebrow and rakes her gaze over him, the deep purple button down always a good colour on him. Not bothering to comment, she touches her mouth to his and sits down at the vanity to reapply her makeup. "Would you just check on the food?"
"Sure. You want a drink?"
"That'd be great, thanks." Kate turns over her shoulder to accept his kiss, her palm settling against his cheek for a moment. She drums her fingers to his cheekbone and then drops her hand, nudges at him before he comes back in to kiss her harder. "Don't start. You'll ruin my makeup. And our guest will be here any minute."
"Right. Sorry."
He looks genuinely contrite, so much so that Kate curls her fingers at his wrist and reels him in, settles her temple at his sternum. "Don't be sorry. It's not exactly a problem that you want to kiss me. A lot."
Castle grins at that, drops a last kiss to the crown of her head before he leaves, and Kate turns back to the silly smile of her reflection framed in the mirror. Even now, months later, the fervent way he takes from her mouth sends wriggly little seeds of delight scattering all through her gut. He adores her, and she'd tease him about it if she weren't sure that she looks at him with equal reverence.
"Kate," his voice reaches her from the kitchen. "He's here, babe."
Raising an eyebrow at that, Kate stands and moves towards the front door, pinching his side as he comes up next to her. Probably a little too hard if the squeak he lets out is any indication, but he deserves it. He can't just go around throwing out endearments that make a blush crawl up her throat right before company arrives.
Castle opens the door and accepts Vinnie's handshake, grunting softly as the other man moves in to envelop Kate in a hug. She returns it, but the moment Cardano's arms drop she nudges her fingers through Rick's and shifts a little closer to his side.
"Vinnie, great to see you." Castle says, ushering Vinnie down the hall towards the dining room. "Wine?"
"Fantastic, thank you. And thanks for inviting me." Vinnie grins, sitting down where Kate gestures. She moves to join Castle in the kitchen and takes their dinner from the stove where she's been keeping it warm.
Castle wasn't allowed to help her cook, went instead to work on some ideas for the next Nikki novel. And so Kate got to enjoy the wide open space of his kitchen, singing along to the radio as she cooked and letting the last of her anxieties slip away.
Being here with him just feels so absolutely right.
At the table, Kate serves up the food for all of them and settles into her chair, sliding her foot along the floor until it hits Castle's. He jolts, turns to frown at her, and she shrugs.
"I'm glad we could finally get together, Ricky, salud. I'm sure that Sal told you I'm a big fan of your work so, to new friends." Vinnie says, his face softening out on a smile.
Kate offers her agreement, Rick echoing her, and the three of them nudge their glasses together in a toast. Sipping at her wine, Kate curls her hand over Castle's knee underneath the table. She doesn't want to mess with him too much, not in front of Vinnie, but there's a thrill to being able to touch him like this now.
How long she yearned to just take his hand or stretch up and kiss him, and now here they are.
Vinnie takes a mouthful of pasta, swallows it down on a sigh before he speaks. "Ah sweetie, this meat sauce is to die for."
"Thank you, Vinnie."
"Actually, it is excellent, I didn't know you could cook." Castle says, glancing at her with something like awe plastered across his face. It's harder now to surprise him, after four years of him studying her, learning her. So when she is able to do it, she basks in the moment.
"You should pay a little more attention, Castle."
Vinnie laughs at the two of them, leaning back in his chair to rake his eyes over her. "Oh see that's the difference between Castle and me, you've had my complete attention since I've been here sweetheart."
"Whoa whoa, watch it Vinnie." Castle splutters, narrowing his eyes at the other man. "Kate's taken."
Cardano laughs out loud at that, clasping his hands and shaking his head. "Relax, Ricky. I'm not trying to take your girl. The way she looks at you, I'd be an idiot to even attempt that."
And Kate doesn't even bother to school her features, simply leans in to the inquisitive tilt of Castle's head and touches her mouth to his own. "You're stuck with me, Castle."
"I know." He breathes, tucks the thick curl of her hair back behind her ear. They take a moment to breathe in each other's reassurance and then Castle shifts back from her, takes a long sip at his wine.
Kate darts a glance at Vinnie but he's watching them with barely-withheld amusement, shakes his head when he catches her looking. "Sal did ask me to report back on the woman who made you grow up."
"Oh, Vinnie, can you. . .keep this quiet? We're still trying to keep it a secret from our colleagues." Castle says, pouring more wine into all three of their glasses.
"Of course. Doesn't mean I'm not going to tell Sal all about it, though."
After Vinnie leaves, Castle ushers her through to the living room and settles next to her on the couch, uses a remote to dim the lights. It's a little sappy and she half wants to roll her eyes, but the lick of shadow over the planes of his face make her mouth dry and instead she leans in to kiss him.
"Mm, Kate. Thank you for coming out here with me." He murmurs against the thin skin at her neck, dipping down to taste the heat of her clavicle.
She clutches at the curve of his skull, cards her fingers through his hair and bites back a moan. "Thanks for inviting me. It's a gorgeous place."
"Made all the more gorgeous by having you here." He says, and before Kate can roll her eyes at that he's untying the knotted fabric at her shoulders and lowering his mouth to the rapidly-bared skin of her chest.
And then there's no more talking.
A/N: I'm sorry for the ridiculous delay on this chapter; school has been crazy lately in terms of extra curriculars and homework. I'll try to get back to a more regular schedule. In the meantime, I'm pretty consistent with my post episode one shots, so check those out if you'd like. Thanks for your support.